Archive for December, 2009

DIY Monome 40h Build: Parts List

Uncategorized | Posted by Andrew Wasyluk December 27th, 2009

So it begins… The Ultimate MIDI Controller Monome 40h DIY Build – AKA the Arduinome 40h. So here is the start to another project of mine which I had promised in an earlier post. I have ordered all the parts and they should be at my house in Boulder when I return from the sunny state of Florida for Christmas break from my dads house in Tampa.

Here are all the parts with pictures of what one would need to build an Arduinome. The stock Monome 40h costs around $500 to buy outright, but if you have the wherewithal to build one, it will only run you about $150 without labor costs. Here is what you will need to build da’ damn thang:

Sparkfun

Quantity Description Unit Price Total
1 Arduino USB Board (Duemilanove / Diecimila) $34.95 $34.95
4 Button Pad 4×4 – Breakout PCB $9.95 $39.80
4 Button Pad 4×4 – LED Compatible $9.95 $39.80
64 Diode Small Signal – 1N4148 $0.12 $7.68
Total Does not include shipping $122.23

Digikey

Quantity Part Number Description Unit Price Total
1 MAX7219CNG+ IC DRIVER LED DISPLAY 8DGT 24DIP $10.81 $10.81
1 MM74HC164N IC REGISTER PAR-OUT 8BIT 14-DIP $0.54 $0.54
1 MM74HC165N IC REGIST PAR-IN/SER-OUT 16-DIP $0.54 $0.54
1 ED90053-ND IC SOCKET 24PIN MS TIN/TIN .300 (socket for MAX7219) $1.53 $1.53
1 ED90049-ND IC SOCKET 14PIN MS TIN/TIN .300 (socket for 74HC164n) $0.89 $0.89
1 ED90050-ND IC SOCKET 16PIN MS TIN/TIN .300 (socket for 74HC165n) $1.02 $1.02
3 P4910-ND .10UF 100V 10% MONOLITH CERM CAP $0.48 $1.44
1 770-101-R100KP-ND *RES NET 9RES 100K OHM 10PIN (see note below) $0.42 $0.42
2 S1012E-36-ND CONN HEADER .100 SINGL STR 36POS $1.25 $2.50
1 P828-ND 10UF 50V MINI ALUM ELECT (KA) $0.16 $0.64
64 *LED’S
1 *RESISTOR
Total $20.33

There are just some of the pictures of the parts, there are a few more things from Digi-Key that weren’t pictured because they all look like the last two pics but you get the gist of it. Anyway I want to give credit where credit is due. I had copied the parts list verbatim from the Flip-MU blog which initially inspired me to do this build as they have posted instructions on their blog as well, but there’s nothing wrong with sharing the wealth right?

So that’s it for now, hope all my loyal readers had an awesome Christmas, or Kwanzaa, or whatever ya’ll celebrate as I know I had an awesome one with just my pops and I. My brother and sister just flew in from Maryland and now the family is happily together in the warm climate of Florida where we will be for the next few days, and then it is back to Boulder, CO for me. Until next time (which will probably after the new years) I’ll catch ya lata! Happy new years and a word from the wise: don’t drink and drive-or as they say in those ghey commercials: BUZZED DRIVING IS DRUNK DRIVING!!! hahaha yea right

~Andy

  • Share/Bookmark

The Ultimate MIDI Controller: Monome 40h

My Music, Other Music, Projects, Uncategorized | Posted by Andrew Wasyluk December 19th, 2009

There are a plethora of MIDI controllers available in todays music industry, but I have seen nothing like the Monome 40h. At first glance I thought it wasn’t anything special as it just looks like a bunch of lit up square buttons in an enclosure. I would have forgotten about it and never looked back if it didn’t look like anything I’ve ever seen before. After reading more about it, I was fascinated by the product as the functionality and capabilities of this controller are potentially endless (I’ll explain a little later.) Here is what the Monome 40h looks like:

Factory built Monome 40h

The 64 backlit buttons can be configured as toggles, radio groupings, sliders, or organized into more sophisticated systems to monitor and and trigger sample playback position. The really cool thing about the Monome 40h is that the physical controller gets routed through a hardware chip inside that has an open source code to it and numerous applications can be loaded onto it to perform a variety of complex functions which interact with an audio plugin that is hosted by a DAW like Logic 9, or Ableton 8.0 (Ableton is the preferred host for the Monome but others can be used.). Its kind of hard to explain but here are a few descriptions of the applications from the Monome.org website:

applications and interfacing

we’ve designed numerous applications and patches which exemplify the 40h as a simultaneous input and output device. several are musically-inclined, though the interface also fits wonderfully into alternative uses. all of our applications are open-source and no additional purchase is necessary to use them. here are a few examples:

  • 64step is a versatile step sequencer aimed at fluid composition and editing.
  • mlr is a sample-cutting platform intended for dynamic and performative live manipulation.
  • life is an interactive version of conway’s original simulation.
  • phoenix is a probabilistic arpeggiator with a drawable waveform.

also available are routing applications which allow the 40h to be seen as a standard midi controller, for interfacing with commercial software.

I know the above is probably confusing to some who may read this so here is a video of one of my friends, Derek Smith, from the band “Pretty Lights” from YouTube. By the way you should check out hit music its pretty sick.  Pretty Lights

YouTube Preview Image

This guy is amazing… and so is the Monome. The Monome Derek is using in the video is the 128 with the MLR application running. The application pretty much cuts a full sample into quantized parts that span a row and different samples can be on different columns. There is one column on the very left side which tempo and start/stop times of the patterns you input throught the monome (its basically a step sequencer too.)

Whats cool about the monome is that since it is open source, people have replicated the actual hardware by using the open source Arduino microchip which the applications can run of. They call it the Arduinome. I will post another DIY blog build after the new years as I am going to build one of these from scratch. The reason I am doing this is because a) Ive always wanted a monome because they can add so much versatility to ones music especially in the live setting. and b) The Monome 40h is $499 and the one I am building is going to cost me $138 plus my time for labor. Now this is going to be a huge build which will span about two weeks to a month so I am really excited about building it. The first post of the build will go up tonight.

This thing is really cool, and if my build turns out good enough, I am going to start producing them and selling them as the profit margin is huge, and they can be produced in a fashion that allows multiple products to be built at once. Anyway I’m really excited and it should turn out well. Til’ next time.

~Andy

p.s. All of Pretty Lights music is free on their website and his beats are sick so check em’

  • Share/Bookmark

Nerf Guns Banned on CU-Boulder Campus

Misc. | Posted by Andrew Wasyluk December 4th, 2009

So I was reading the local paper and I came across this article that blew me away. I didn’t know that Nerf guns were all thatNerf Gun popular on campus but I guess I was mistaken. I’m pretty sure that this all stems from the concealed-weapons debate they are having at CSU right now, but c’mon…Nerf Guns? They’re saying you could be arrested if you are caught with one, and that sightings will be treated like real gun sightings. Wtf does that mean? Are they going to shoot you if you are behaving in a suspicious manner? This is absurd, but REAL!!! What’s next, squirt guns?

Anyway here is the original news article from 9NEWS.com:

“BOULDER – If you’re caught walking around the University of Colorado at Boulder with a Nerf gun, you could be arrested. Notices have been posted around the campus’ dorm buildings, warning students that Nerf gun sightings will be treated like real gun sightings.

Nerf guns have been popping up around CU this week, after some students started playing the popular game “Humans vs. Zombies.” It’s similar to the game of tag.

The humans are supposed to shoot the zombies with Nerf guns to keep them away.

Since they’re not allowed to use Nerf guns, students are now using rolled up socks.

“It seems to me that if we go through the proper channels, they’ll let us use them in the future,” sophomore Tyler Benjamin said.

More than 600 students are signed up to play the game at CU.

University Police said they haven’t had any issues, yet.

The game continues through the weekend. It starts at dawn and ends at dusk. “

http://www.9news.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=128199&catid=346

And for all of you thinking this is some kind of hoax, you are wrong…. 100% REAL and 100% REDICULOUS!

~Andy

  • Share/Bookmark